PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — On Monday, a Utah woman was found guilty of aggravated murder for killing her husband with fentanyl and later self-publishing a children’s book about coping with grief.
Prosecutors claimed that Kouri Richins administered five times the lethal dose of a synthetic opioid into a drink consumed by her husband, Eric Richins, in March 2022 at their residence near Park City. They alleged that Richins was $4.5 million in debt and falsely believed she would inherit his estate, valued at over $4 million, upon his death. Additionally, they suggested she was envisioning a future with another man.
Richins gazed at the floor and took deep breaths as the verdict was announced.
The jury took less than three hours to reach a decision. After the verdict, family members from both sides embraced and wept as they exited the courtroom.
Richins was also found guilty of other felony charges, including an attempted murder charge for allegedly trying to poison her husband on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that caused him to develop hives and lose consciousness. Jurors also convicted her of fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after his death.
Her sentencing is set for May 13, which would have been her husband’s 44th birthday.
Richins’ defense attorney argued that Eric Richins struggled with a painkiller addiction and had asked his wife to obtain opioids for him. However, Kouri Richins had previously told police in a video that her husband had no history of using illegal drugs.
“She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money,” stated Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth.
Richins maintained her innocence, pleading not guilty to all charges.
The charge of aggravated murder carries a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Originally slated to be a five-week trial, it was cut short when Richins waived her right to testify, and her defense unexpectedly rested its case without presenting any witnesses. Her attorneys claimed they believed the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence for a conviction.
“They haven’t done their job, and now they want you to make inferences based on paper-thin evidence,” defense attorney Wendy Lewis told the jury on Monday.
‘A wife becoming a black widow’
Prosecutors described Richins as a real estate agent involved in house flipping who was deeply in debt and planning a future with another man. They alleged she had secretly opened several life insurance policies on her husband, totaling about $2 million.
Text messages between Richins and Robert Josh Grossman, the man she was allegedly seeing, were shown to the jury. The messages revealed her fantasies about leaving her husband, acquiring millions through divorce, and marrying Grossman.
Richins’ phone search history included queries such as “what is a lethal.dose.of.fetanayl (sic),” “luxury prisons for the rich America,” and “if someone is poisned (sic) what does it go down on the death certificate as,” as testified by a digital forensic analyst.
Bloodworth played a portion of Richins’ 911 call from the night of her husband’s death to the jury. He argued this was “not ‘the sound of a wife becoming a widow,’” as claimed in the defense’s opening statement, but rather “the sound of a wife becoming a black widow.”
Lewis countered that the prosecution “looks at facts one way and sees a witch, but if you look at those facts another way, you see a widow.”
‘Give us the details that will ensure Kouri gets convicted’
The defense concentrated on discrediting the prosecution’s main witness, Carmen Lauber, a housekeeper who claimed to have sold Richins fentanyl on multiple occasions.
Lewis contended that Lauber was not involved in fentanyl dealing and had reasons to lie for legal leniency. Initially, Lauber denied supplying fentanyl, but she later changed her statement after investigators informed her about Eric Richins’ overdose, the defense noted.
Richins had allegedly asked Lauber for “the Michael Jackson stuff,” which Bloodworth suggested likely referred to the drug combination responsible for the singer’s death.
“She knows she wants it because it is lethal,” Bloodworth argued.
The housekeeper was already enrolled in a drug court program as an alternative to prison for other offenses when she was arrested in connection with the Richins case, investigators reported. She had also breached several conditions of the drug court.
The defense presented a video showing law enforcement cautioning Lauber that her drug court agreement could be revoked, potentially resulting in a lengthy prison term.
“Give us the details that will ensure Kouri gets convicted of murder,” a man in the video stated.
Lauber received immunity for her testimony in the case. She expressed a sense of responsibility, stating she felt compelled to “step up and take accountability of my part in this.”
Children’s book becomes a tool for prosecutors
Shortly before her arrest in May 2023, Richins self-published a book titled “Are You with Me?” which she promoted on local TV and radio. Prosecutors used this to argue that she had planned the murder and tried to cover it up.
Summit County Sheriff’s detective Jeff O’Driscoll, the lead investigator, testified that Richins hired a ghostwriting company to produce the book.
Jury hears letter found in jail cell
Prosecutors presented excerpts of a letter discovered in Richins’ jail cell, which they said outlined testimony for her mother and brother. In the six-page document, Richins instructed her brother to tell her attorney that Eric Richins had confided in him about obtaining fentanyl from Mexico and using drugs nightly.
Defense attorneys argued that the letter contained a fictional story Richins was developing. They maintained that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers and had asked his wife to acquire opioids for him.
However, Richins had told police on the night of her husband’s death that he had no history of illicit drug use, as shown in body camera footage presented in court.
Associated Press reporters Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
